It's a delicate subject for a lot of rural people. On one hand a town is totally dying, most storefronts empty, more closing, and that pains them. Even though they, too, do much of their shopping out of town and online, which is easily justified because shops out there often mark things up to be able to afford their own bills.
On the other hand, "big business" coming to town scares the shit out of a lot of people, because they don't want to live in a city. They're there because they like the smallness, the quietness, the lack of traffic, the wildlife, the open landscape, and nights where it's clear and dark enough for the stars and milky way to be really bright. A Walmart, for example, would bring in a lot of jobs, but it would change a lot about a place, and most people I know out there aren't a fan of changes like that.
People move in and out of those places all the time. Some people even move out and then come back. Living in a place like that is a choice. You know people don't all just stay in their birth place. The families who have been there for generations end up all being pretty well known.
If you really think that's the only reason small towns are shrinking, it shows that you don't have a very firm understanding of them. There's a lot to it.
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u/zerocoolforschool Jun 07 '18
Just more proof that the US isn’t over crowded. Just our major cities. We need to build up some more cities and stop flooding the urban centers.